The Art of a Craft Fair

Indie craft fairs happen year round at various venues across the country. Craft fairs such as these are now pretty abundant in SE Michigan and are worth a visit. As a maker and a seller these fairs are an amazing opportunity to sell your goods to fabulous people, and to form connections with fellow crafters. I personally LOVE participating craft fairs. They are also quite fun to shop at, as these fairs feature anywhere from 20 – 300 local vendors. Some fairs are organized by craft groups, some by individuals, and the fairs come in all shapes and sizes. Shows in SE Michigan are usually around 25 vendors for a smaller show, to almost 70 for our largest indie craft fair, Detroit Urban Craft Fair.

Here’s a glimpse inside last weekend’s Craft Revival, which was held at The Loving Touch in Ferndale. A pool hall turned craft fair– this is the stuff I’m talking about!

Friday night was a preview night with live bands, and sellers peddling their handmade wares from 9pm – 2am with live music, adult beverages, and fun conversations going on everywhere.

Saturday was a daytime event, this time with a kick-ass DJ spinning vinyl all day.

This fair also featured live crafting, as kids colored, and folks of all ages created wine cork stamped cards.

 

At a craft fair you might also find things like chalk drawings and a viking doing some shopping. (Yes, that is Erica the Red wearing a hand crocheted viking suit, made by Veronica/ Asta herself!)

And last, but not least, the vendors! So many great handmade vendors set up shop. It takes a lot of thought and effort to churn out such great work and have such creative table displays. Here are a few of the many goodies from Craft Revival:

Phantom Limb, Three Birds Jewelry, Perfect Laughter

All Things Winged, Cet Homme Charmant, Jones Press

My Marigold, Vintage In Retrospect, Glass Action!

made here, Moving Beauty, Barrell of Monkeys, Re-Zip It!, Pink Tag Bags, dang argyle

I hope to see you at a craft fair soon!